Dark War
by Graver7
Summary: The adventure of an elite special forces detachment assigned to rescue POWs behind enemy lines. They find that the Nazi's have some pretty nasty power that no one's ever seen before. No shortage of action.


DARK WAR

We were deep within enemy territory.

It was cold and harsh, and we--idiots that we were--had volunteered for the mission. It was put together on the fly, so we had virtually no time to plan our course of action, and were armed with only the basic necessities. I had the most Spartan of field kits containing nothing more than a radio, Springfield .45, rope, a few grenades, and my fixed blade. We certainly weren't breaking the budget, but this was ridiculous. I wasn't even permitted to grab a Thompson submachine gun--my weapon of choice. Riggs, my scout and all around backup, did carry a Winchester trench gun, but even that wasn't going to do us much good against a dozen MP-40s spitting lead our way. All the more reason to do what we were trained to do--stick to the shadows.

From twenty thousand feet we dropped into the woods about three hundred yards outside the compound. We stashed our chutes and made our way to the perimeter on foot in about ten minutes. It was dark, and the going to was rough, but in situations like that you never forget that you're a commando and this is what you love to do.

The trek was just enough to get us warmed up, but soon enough it was time for the first phase of the op: sentry elimination. Deckard and I snuck up while Riggs kept an eye out. There were two outposts about twenty feet apart, a man guarding each. Simple as pie. I gave Deck the signal and we executed each of the German soldiers with precision timing. Sometimes I like to take 'em in the right kidney, but this time I came up with an ice pick grip and plunged the knife in behind his collarbone, through the carotid artery and into the chest cavity, collapsing the right lung. The arterial spray streaked my face with his warm blood, really getting my heart pumping. I pulled him back into the woodland and stashed him behind a large rock, never bothering to clean myself off.

Time for phase two.

Deck sped away into the right side of the compound, heading for the communications tower. I took the left side, Riggs trailing me at a distance of about twelve yards. If someone did happen to spot me without me knowing it, it certainly wouldn't get by Riggs. We headed past the empty barracks and made our way towards the back side of the base, toward the cage. According to our intel, the cage was where American and British POWs were being held. We had three simple assignments: Rescue the hostages, destroy the munitions depot, and de-animate one General Franz Goven. Upon last briefing, Goven was still within the compound, interrogating the American prisoners. With the barracks empty and the exception of the communications tower which Deckard was currently taking care of, the General and the rest of the soldiers stationed at the base should all be grouped together in the cage. If we could catch them off guard without damaging any of the POWs in the process, we could count the mission a success. Getting back to a bed and some warm chow didn't sound like such a bad idea to me, so I put my game face on and approached the cage.

The cage itself was really just that--a small area enclosed by chain-link fencing. I could see three prisoners strapped to wooden poles inside. Two of the men hung limp, and the third was getting the shit kicked out of him by whom I could only presume to be the General. Three soldiers stood watching the violence, laughing and smoking.

They would really be smoking before too long.

I took position behind a truck about twenty feet away and motioned for Riggs to come up.

"What do you think, Captain? It's an open area, we don't have much cover."

"We don't want a firefight with these guys, Riggs. Give me one of those shotgun shells."

Once I made an improvised setup it was time to wait, but we didn't have to wait long. In a matter of moments a loud boom echoed through the air. Deckard had just blown the com tower. From our position we saw the General bark something at his three remaining men, who immediately headed towards the truck we were hiding by, each behind one of the wheels. In such a hurry, the men never even knew we were there until it was too late. Two jumped into the back of the truck and I popped the pin out of a pineapple grenade. The engine revved and was followed by a loud bang. The guy in the driver seat had just put the pedal down on my shotgun shell booby trap. I heard his bloodcurdling scream and wondered if there was anything left of his foot. While Riggs stood and put one blast point blank through the window into the guy's skull, I pulled up the flap of the truck canopy and tossed in my little surprise for the soldiers sitting inside. Riggs and I backed away from the truck and just as I saw the two climbing out of the back the grenade went off, filling their spines and skulls with burning hot shrapnel.

I ran around the truck and approached the cage. The General saw me and removed his Walther P-38 pistol from it's sheath and placed it to the temple of one of the prisoners. He spoke a gruff but understandable English, "Stop or I will shoot him."

I pulled my .45 and put a bullet in his throat.

He fell to the ground, paralyzed and dying.

I checked the two motionless prisoners first, both dead. As I untied the third he identified himself as an American, but not a soldier. He was a scientist, and he was obviously insane.

"You shouldn't have come here. They're not dead. Don't you see? They've uncovered the secret! The power is theirs now! We--"

The scientist was cut off when a blast of thunder cracked overhead so loud I thought for a moment my eardrums had burst. The sky lit up as a bolt of lightning streaked down and hit the dead General where he lay on the ground. I thought to myself that was the strangest thing I'd ever seen. I thought too soon. The General's eyes popped open, glowing with an eerie blue-purple light. He grabbed his gun and emptied it into the scientist.

I began pumping round after round into Goven's chest, but he acted as if he didn't even feel it. Little holes blew open in his uniform as the heavy slugs slammed into him, and all the while he stood and ejected the empty magazine from his gun and reloaded. My Springfield clicked empty and Goven raised his pistol toward my head.

A shot rang out, but one much louder than that of the Walther. It was a shot from Riggs, and the powerful blast picked Goven up like a rag doll and threw him ten feet through the air. His body skidded to a halt, but immediately he began to rise to his feet.

"What the Hell's going on, Captain?"

I reloaded my pistol. "I don't know. C'mon, our mission's over. We've got to get back and let our people know about this."

We took to our heels. We ran past the burning truck and I saw the two men from the back standing up. They had the same light in their eyes, and they were still smoking from the heat of the grenade blast. Riggs and I paused long enough to put them back on the ground but then we were off again. We made it back to the front of the compound and saw that the two sentries we had eliminated were back on their feet and waiting for us. They were both full of holes, a sign that Deck had made it back also. We fired as we ran past.

I saw that they didn't have their firearms. Deckard must have taken them, fearing they might come back again. We double-timed it back to the rendezvous point where our evac chopper was waiting with Deckard keeping point.

"Guys," he yelled. "I think we have a problem."

"We know!" Riggs and I yelled in unison. The three of us piled onto the chopper and got the hell out of there.

As we sailed through the sky toward our allied base in the city of Acken, a million different scenarios raced through my mind. What the hell was all this about? Dead men rising from the grave? A power the Germans possessed that could secure their ultimate victory? I closed my eyes and tried to relax, knowing that I had one hell of a debriefing ahead of me.

The President would want to hear about this.


End file.
